Though the people of Himachal Pradesh traditionally follow the twoparty system without giving any space to a third alternative, the trend has not deterred smaller parties from springing up now and then. Since 1971 when Himachal Pradesh got its statehood, more than a dozen smaller
political parties
have come into existence in the state.
But their life span has mostly remained short and their performance not good enough to catch people’s imagination and grow as a recognisable force.
One of the first
regional parties
to be launched in Himachal Pradesh was the
Lok Raj Party
(LRJ). The LRJ was founded by Thakur Sen Negi and Jai Bihari Lal Khachi and had contested the 1971 Lok Sabha elections. However, the party failed to win any seat. In 1972, the LRJ fielded candidates in 16 assembly constituencies and won just two seats.
By the next Vidhan Sabha elections in 1977, the LRJ was dissolved. One of the regional parties that had managed to create ripples in the
state politics
was
Himachal Vikas Congress
(HVC). The HVC was founded by Sukh Ram, the veteran Congress leader from Mandi, after he was thrown out of the party in the wake of the telecom scam.
The HVC fought the assembly elections in 1998 and managed to win five seats and provided crucial support to the BJP, helping it form govt in the state. However, in 2003 assembly elections, the party could manage to win just one seat following which it merged with the Congress party in 2004.
At present, there are eight registered unrecognised political parties (RUPP) in Himachal – the political groups that have either not contested elections or failed to secure enough votes in the polls to become a state party. Here is a low-down on some of the political parties that have been trying to make a mark in state politics.
English (US) ·